Washington: In a rather shocking development, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has accepted responsibility for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Crown Prince Mohommad bin Salman is seen telling a US television, “It happened under my watch.” The statement stands in contradiction to his earlier claims of having no prior knowledge about the incident.
“I get all the responsibility because it happened under my watch,” the heir to the Gulf kingdom’s throne and the kingdom’s de facto ruler is quoted as saying on the TV in December 2018, about two months after the murder took place inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
He was speaking to PBS’ Martin Smith, according to a preview of the documentary, The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, set to air on October 1, ahead of the one-year anniversary of Khashoggi’s death.
Riyadh has repeatedly denied that Prince Mohammed was behind the murder of Khashoggi — a royal family insider turned critic. The killing was described as a rogue operation by the Saudi authorities. Even the Prince, who is better known by his initials-MBS had said that the killing was executed without his knowledge. The CIA and some Western governments have said he ordered it, but Saudi officials say he had no role. Khashoggi’s body was never found.
However, a report by a UN human rights expert stated that there was ‘credible evidence’ linking MBS to the murder and also about an attempted cover-up.
